A Week of Launch Parties

This past week or so, I've had the privilege of attending some really amazing launch parties!

Last, last Saturday (as in, not yesterday), I headed on over to BookCourt in Brooklyn for the launch party of Frost by Marianna Baer. I arrived super early with a couple of friends and got to help Marianna set up the extreme quantities of snacks that she had brought. Then we all got to mingle and chat before it was time for the event to officially start.

the lovely Marianna Baer

Marianna read from the first chapter of Frost and took questions from the audience. I was especially excited to hear a little bit more about the novel that she is currently working on, Immaculate. It's basically about a modern day immaculate conception...maybe. Nonetheless, I am clearly more than excited for when that one comes out!

In addition to monopolizing Marianna's time for five (or ten) minutes, I had a great time talking with Sam from Living Little Women, our publishing friend Ruth, and picture book author Kate Hosford. It was truly a fantastic event, and not just because there were yummy cupcakes involved. Marianna is just a super fantastic and talented person. I always love running into her at other events, and I am so happy to have been part of her very own.

Then, that next Tuesday, I headed on down to Books of Wonder for Maureen Johnson's launch of The Name of the Star. I, of course, forgot how popular Maureen Johnson is, so when I arrived, barely on time, the store was already really crowded! BoW of course already accounted for this and didn't set up chairs, so there would be more space to pack people in.

Maureen arrives, with much fanfare

Maureen talks; notice the abundance of swag on the table before her

I have to say that Maureen is a pretty hilarious person to listen to. She apparently never plans what she's going to say, but she's so naturally entertaining that it doesn't even matter. Instead of reading from her book, she chose to instead talk a while, take questions from the audience, and then play a quick round of trivia.

That's right, trivia. Basically, she needed a way to give away the "YA Saves" t-shirts that she brought. I luckily snagged one of these awesome tees by knowing which of Justine Larbalestier's books involved killing a small supernatural creature (that being How to Ditch Your Fairy). You can get your own "YA Saves" tee (and you should) over at DFTBA, and all proceeds will go to Reading Is Fundamental, a great cause!

I got to hang out with all sorts of cool people at this event, including Genna from Reading, Writing, and the World of Words, Sam from Living Little Women, Rachel from Bookshelf Lust, Beth from Bookish Bethie, and more! Also spotted in the audience were authors Libba Bray, E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, Robin Wasserman, Justine Larbalestier, and David Levithan. All in all, it was a great crowd!

Then, on my way out, while chatting with my favorite Books of Wonder employee Kaila, I picked up a really cool magnet set. Here it is, deconstructed:

Zoom in to the top left corner to see the clever phrase I made with my new magnets!

More on that later...

Then, yesterday, I headed back to Brooklyn to Community Bookstore, a cozy little bookstore I had not yet previously been to. This event was to celebrate the launch of three awesome books by three awesome people: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies, Circle Nine by Anne Heltzel, and Past Perfect by Leila Sales.

the super awesome Jocelyn Davies, Anne Heltzel, and Leila Sales

Each of these lovely ladies read a little bit from their books and then answered some questions from the audience. Then it was signing time! Unfortunately, I didn't have any copies with me to get signed, but I did have a lovely time chatting with each of the featured authors as well as with Courtney Sheinmel and my former manager at Macmillan (ah, I miss those days!). Sadly, I couldn't stick around as long as I wanted to because the joys of being a college student were calling to me....

Anyway, now that we've wrapped up the descriptive part of this post, it's contest time! I was able to pick up a little something at all most of these wonderful events (as in, I forget to get something from the last launch) for some very lucky person. A signed book, some swag, heck, I'll even throw in a "Team Adam" pin from the Brooklyn Book Festival!

CONTEST CLOSED

(1) lucky winner will receive a signed copy of Frost by Marianna Baer, a set of Maureen Johnson magnets, a "Team Adam" pin, and more!

To enter this contest, please fill out this form:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEFGSURnYVh1MFNyR19PQmFZeHVTSEE6MQ

Other details:

• US mailing addresses only.
• Contest ends 10/19/11, at 9 p.m. EST.

Remember, you must complete the form to be entered, and only one form submission per person will be counted. If you have any questions about this contest, see my contest policy, or contact me and ask away.